Special Thanks to ALL Who Helped Us Have a Best Season Yet!

I feel a little like one of the network football telecasts at the end of a season when they start signing off the air 15-20 minutes before the last game of the season is over. You know the ones where they start thanking their cameramen, producers, etc.

We were watching the webcams on Tuesday and their just wasn’t much in the way of traffic on any of the slopes. Mid week is always a great time to ski, but Tuesday was more like a ghost town. Those who did venture out had the slopes all to themselves. Temperatures soared to near 70° and that obviously kept a lot of people off the slopes and maybe on the golf courses of the region.

So we’re going to do our impersonation of one of those play by play announcers and thank all of you who helped to make the 2006-2007 ski season here at SkiNC and SkiSoutheast a great one. Special thanks go out to Joe Stevens. Joe’s my buddy and his contributions via the “Joe Knows Snow” column is only the tip of the iceberg as far as his input to the local ski industry and particularly to this website. Thanks again Joe for your support and invaluable insight.

Thanks also to Rob Story for his contributions this season. We’re posting what might be his last column of the season – today. Rob’s youthful exuberance and excitement for the sport were cool to witness this season. We’re hoping that Rob will continue to contribute in seasons to come. Good luck at Va Tech my man. Dave McConnell’s input wasn’t as strong as we’d hoped for but Dave is Dave and we really appreciate his wit and content throughout this season. Thanks again Dave.

Mark McKelvy – you were THE MAN this season! Mark is one of our many Trip Reporters and he has been the most consistent of photographers for us over the last three seasons. His photos and trip reports from around the region was very much appreciated. Additional thanks need to go to Kent Jackson who keeps us with Sugar images and commentaries. “Honorable Mention Thanks” go to Anthony Clemons, Lane Passmore and numerous others who shot us periodic trip reports throughout the season.

Top thanks go to our many sponsors who allow us the ability to do what we do. Richard McGuire of Eagle Ridge Log Cabins, Mike Graham of Wits End, Jim Harrison of Hidden Valley, Bill Leonard of Ski Country Sports, Brian Britton of Extreme Snowboards and Skis, Michael Meissener of Smoky Falls Lodging, and Mark and Mr G at Meadowbrook Inn. You guys rock.

INFORMATION “IN” IS INFORMATION “OUT” – “WINNERS”

Over the twelve years that we have been doing this website we have always told ski area management and marketing people that the best way that we can promote them is to get us as much information as possible to more equitably promote them. Truthfully that is always the toughest part of maintaining this website because not all ski resort marketing staffs are ACTUALLY marketing people. They all do the best that they can but regardless of how this may rub some people the wrong way – not all ski resorts are created equal. I’m basically saying that there are marketing people and then there are those who wear so many hats that they don’t know what they are.

With that said, we had the best and the most input from resorts across the southeast and Mid Atlantic that we’ve ever had. Thanks to all of you guys who really stepped up the marketing programs this season.

Special thanks and appreciation goes to the team of Andrea Smith and Lindsay Kutsko of Snowshoe Mountain. Andrea is no longer with Snowshoe, but Lindsay picked right up and kept us flooded with good input all season long. Lindsay, you’re quite the photographer and we enjoyed the heck out of working with you this season.

David “Coop” Cooper of Canaan Valley’s Recreation staff was new to submitting content to us this season and David you are the bomb dude. Thanks for the participation this season and your photos were increasingly great all season.

Drew Stanley of Appalachian and Pam Long of Timberline were the next, most frequent at sending content, events and updates. Drew’s youthful touch was a welcome addition and hats off to the Moretz family for handing another important part of the mountain’s success over to another member of the Stanley family. Drew is Appalachian’s Marketing Director and we thank Drew for his contributions and input this season. Drew, the clarity of those photos from Sam Cassidy were astonishing! Pam, thanks tons for your images and periodic press releases this season. It was refreshing to have so much input from you guys this year.

Wolf Ridge Resort’s Tim Bryant really came on board as did their staff in updating their slope conditions dead on this season. Tim, your photos and press releases and event input was appreciated and very welcome this season.

Top honors of the Virginia resorts undoubted goes to Sarah Lovejoy and Wintergreen Resort. Thanks Missy and Sarah.

Thanks also to Tammy Brown of Cataloochee for her in depth daily reports. Tammy also included a ton of information such that we rarely get to speak. Hey, Tammy, maybe you should reduce the amount of data you include on those daily reports and events notices so that we can talk a bit more. Congrats on another great season and a super marketing job this year.

…AND NOW BACK TO THE FINAL “MINUTES” OF THIS SKI SEASON

Now that we’ve passed on some accolades and thank yous…there is about 2-3 weeks of skiing left in this season. Resorts have been dropping base depths about 2” per day of late. Highs yesterday were very close to 70° across the mountains and some areas will see highs near 70° again today.

Spring Conditions are being reported and that includes the appearance of some thin coverage areas and bare spots. Right now the best conditions in North Carolina are at Appalachian and Sugar. Beech still has plenty of snow but is looking pretty worn.

The top pick in Virginia would probably be a toss up between Massanutten and Wintergreen. Wintergreen has more terrain open. The West Virginia and Maryland resorts are still looking pretty healthy as they got substantially more cooperation from Mother Nature three weeks ago in the form of as much as two feet of snow and cold temps. Understandably, they still look pretty good. We’re seeing NO bare spots at Wisp at Deep Creek or Appalachian and minimal thin coverage at Cataloochee and Snowshoe.

It is going to be a COLD weekend and we think that St Paddy’s Day will be a great time to explore what it’s like to do some Spring Skiing. If your favorite ski area is closed for the season, as Joe Stevens mentioned yesterday – this is a great time to discover or visit a ski area that you haven’t tried before. There’s plenty of terrain open and good, side to side coverage most everywhere.

Mike is the Editor and founder of SkiSoutheast.com, SkiNC.com and ResortCams.com. Since September 1996 he has posted close to 14,000 posts, articles, photos and videos promoting all of the ski areas of North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia and Maryland.Mike is the father of four daughters, is an avid skier and enjoys golf, tennis, kayaking and hiking in the mountains. Winter snowsports and Summer boating on Watauga Lake are among his favorite pastimes.

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